by Syria in a Week Editors | May 23, 2019 | Syria in a Week - EN, Uncategorized
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Truce, Bombardment, and Battles
20 May 2019
A Russian news agency reported the Russian defense ministry on Monday as saying that it repelled a drone and rocket attack on its aerial base in Syria early this week.
The ministry accused the previous Nusra of the attack. The agency also reported the ministry as saying that it downed six rockets fired at Hmeimeim base in Lattakia governorate.
At least ten civilians were killed by Russian airstrikes that targeted northwest Syria at night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). This bombardment came shortly after Syrian government ally Moscow announced a “unilateral” ceasefire.
Fierce battles broke out early Monday between government forces on the one hand, and Tahrir al-Sham and factions allied to it on the other hand in the northern countryside of Hama, which along with Idlib governorate is subject to a Russian-Turkish truce agreement. The battles coincided with Russian airstrikes and intensive bombardment by government forces on several cities and towns in the area.
The SOHR reported the death of ten civilians including five children and four women by Russian airstrikes on Sunday that targeted Kafrnobble and its surrounding in the southwest countryside of Idlib. One of the strikes targeted the town’s hospital rendering it inoperable, according to the SOHR.
The Russian reconciliation center announced on Sunday that government forces started a unilateral ceasefire starting midnight of 12 May.
The intensity of airstrikes and bombardment has eased off in the last three days, but have not completely halted, according to the SOHR and residents of the southern countryside of Idlib.
During an emergency meeting of the Security Council, the United Nations cautioned against a “humanitarian crisis” in Idlib if the violence continues.
Damascus Airport for Rent?
19 May 2019
The Syrian government denied reports regarding the investment of Damascus international airport or any other airports by Russia.
“There are no negotiations regarding the investment of the airport and other Syrian airports. Damascus International Airport is one of the vital facilities and massive projects which the ministry is working on developing and investing according to the Build-Operate-Turnover (BOT) system, with a vision to build a new hall for passengers,” the Syrian transport ministry said in a statement on its website.
The ministry added that as part of the protocols of the eleventh session of the joint Syrian-Russian committee in December of 2018, the rehabilitation of Damascus and Aleppo airports was discussed in accordance to the technical discussions held in Damascus in November of 2018, and the Russian side proposed to rehabilitate the airports according to the BOT system.
The ministry said that, “Until this moment, there are no negotiations on the investment of Damascus International Airport or other Syrian civil airports by any party. All that has occurred was within the context of discussions and proposals and nothing more… In the event of new developments, they will be presented and announced in a timely manner.”
Israeli Test for Iran
18 May 2019
Rockets launched by Israeli warplanes on Saturday night targeted a post for Syrian government forces in Qunaitera in the south, in a second incident of its kind in as many days, according to the SOHR.
“Israeli planes in the occupied Golan launched three rockets, two of which targeted the headquarters of Brigade Ninety, and the third was shot down by Syrian defense systems,” said the SOHR.
Brigade Ninety is one of the most prominent brigades in the Syrian army, it is commissioned with supervising Qunaitera governorate and has been previously targeted by Israel.
The official Syrian news agency SANA said, “Unidentified objects entered from the occupied territories into the airspace south of the country. Air defense systems engaged with them.” SANA did not mention any further details.
This is the second aggression after Damascus announced on Friday that its air defenses engaged “enemy targets coming from the south.”
The rockets on Friday targeted al-Kisweh, southwest of Damascus, where Iranian and Hezbollah weapon depots are located, which have been repeatedly targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
Israel intensified in recent years its strikes in Syria, targeting position for the Syrian army, in addition to Iranian and Hezbollah targets.
Al-Tayyib Tizini
18 May 2019
Al-Tayyib Tizini, a Syrian intellect and researcher who was close to the Syrian opposition, passed away Saturday morning at the age of eighty-five, according to Syrian intellects and opposition members on social media.
Tizini, originally from the city of Homs in the center of Syria, is considered one of the most prominent Syrian intellects. He was the professor of Arab philosophy at Damascus University for decades and has published several intellectual and philosophical books.
Tizini was part of a group of intellects and human rights activists, in addition to dozens of other people who held a sit-in on 16 March 2011 in front of the interior ministry in Damascus, calling for the release of opinion detainees in Syria. He was arrested along with others and were all released two days afterwards.
In contrast to other opposition members, he did not leave his city of Homs during the conflict which started in 2011.
Postponement of Iraqi Flights
18 May 2019
The Syrian transport ministry said on Saturday that it was informed of Baghdad’s decision to postpone two Iraqi Airlines flights to Damascus “until further notice.” Air flights between the two countries were set to be resumed for the first since late 2011.
This comes after the spokesman for the Iraqi Airlines Laith al-Rabii said on Saturday, “The first Iraqi Airlines flight will take off from Baghdad to Damascus” on Saturday. The last direct flight from Baghdad airport arrived in Damascus in December of 2011.
Confrontations in New York
17 May 2019
The United Nations said on Friday at least eighteen health centers have been attacked in the past three weeks in northwestern Syria, prompting a confrontation between western powers and Russia and Syria at the Security Council over who is to blame.
While the area is nominally protected by a Russian-Turkish deal agreed in September to avert a new battle, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces – backed by Russians – have launched an offensive on the last major insurgent stronghold. Some three million civilians are at risk, the United Nations said.
“Since we know that Russia and Syria are the only countries that fly planes in the area, is the answer … the Russian and Syrian air forces?” Britain’s UN Ambassador Karen Pierce said to the fifteen-member council on where the blame lay.
Acting US Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen said Russia and Syria were responsible for the attacks on the health centers. He said it was most alarming that several of the centers attacked were on a list created by Russia and the United Nations in an attempt to protect them.
Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the Syrian and Russian forces were not targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure and questioned the sources used by the United Nations to verify attacks on health centers.
Al-Jolani Calls for Opening Fronts
17 May 2019
In a video recording released on Friday, the general commander of Tahrir al-Sham (previously Nusra) Abu Mohammed al-Jolani called for the deployment of Syrian factions loyal to Ankara in order to open battle fronts with government forces. He called on the residents to dig shelters instead of fleeing from government bombardment.
In an interview with reporters and released by Tahrir al-Sham on Telegram, al-Jolani said, “Some factions in the Euphrates Shield and the area over there can alleviate the situation for us by starting action against Aleppo, for example.”
“They have fronts with the government, dispersing the enemy and opening more than one front is in our favor,” he added.
Turkish allied factions known as the Euphrates Shield control the area in the northern countryside of Aleppo, from Jarablus in the northeast to Afrin the northwest of Aleppo countryside.
ISIS Once Again
16 May 2019
Elements from ISIS attacked a Syrian government position west of Palmyra city. The Amaq news agency, which is affiliated with the group, said that its members stormed a military barrack for government forces near al-Sawanah oasis and killed eight soldiers and captured one. It also said that twelve other soldiers were killed and three vehicles burned when forces headed to reinforce the barrack under attack.
The northeastern countryside of Homs and the southeaster countryside of Deir al-Zor, which is under ISIS control, have witnessed repeated attacks on government forces.
Moving Forward, The United States and Russia
14 May 2019
The United States and Russia agreed to pathways to move forward towards a political solution in Syria, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Russian resort city Sochi.
“We had a very productive conversation on pathways forward in Syria, things we can do together where we have a shared set of interests on how to move the political process forward,” Pompeo told reporters at the airport before flying out.
“There is the political process associated with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 that has been hung up and I think we mutually now can begin to work together in a way to unlock that,” he said.
UN Security Council Resolution 2254, passed unanimously in 2015, called for UN-backed negotiations to reach a political solution for the situation in Syria.
Pompeo said that the Syrian issue, which is one of the major topics of dispute between the United States and Russia, was a major topic of conversation during the talks on Tuesday evening at Putin’s residence in the Black Sea resort.
He said that Washington and Moscow both backed establishing a committee tasked with drafting a new constitution for Syria, a key step that has been bogged down by disagreements over its composition.
Successive UN envoys working to end the war have struggled to make headway on the constitutional committee.
by سلوى زكزك | May 17, 2019 | Cost of War - EN, Uncategorized
Ahmed (a false name) throws his load of tissue paper bags on the sidewalk, and disappears between two vehicles to get into his car, fleeing from the eyes of passersby and his manager at “Ramadan World” because if you smoke openly then some shoppers will stop buying from you, using your cigarette habit as an excuse, according to the store’s owner.
Ahmed’s partner comes close and says: “There’s no need to hide. I saw a woman drinking water openly and another woman eating candies, and another man smoking as well!”
There appears to have been a clear change in the daily behaviors of residents in Damascus with regards to fasting during Ramadan, which is not limited to the fast-breakers themselves—even most stores selling readymade food and juices have not closed their doors during the fasting month.
Unlike Ahmed, Umm Manar has three children who show their fast-breaking openly, but based on her beliefs, insists on paying for their iftars during the fasting month. In the past to expiate their fast breaking, Umm Manar has donating money to poor families through charities or a sheikh.
The legal authority in the Ministry of Religious Endowments sets this fee annually and this year it is between 800 and 1,000 Syrian pounds, which is the price of a meal for a hungry person. Therefore Umm Manar has decided this year to join with her friend in paying for a wheelchair for an amputee child who was a victim of the war—and directly, without an intermediary. Umm Manar’s decision reflects a change which blends humanitarianism with belief and interacts with the new, more urgent needs of wartime.
Her children are not in a unique situation in Damascus. Most employees in official and private departments continue to eat daily in the workplace. Samia says that her colleagues at work do not fast, but that she takes into account the feelings of those fasting by not preparing coffee at work, especially given that it has a strong and appetizing smell. Samia adds that, “the other colleagues don’t eat cucumbers, eggs or falafel in their morning meals during Ramadan because of their strong aroma.” Taking these feelings into account does not really go beyond the act of not eating foods that have strong smells that awakens the hunger of fasters.
With regards to this subject, Article 517 of the Penal Code sets a penalty for all those who openly break the fast in Ramadan at detention of a full month. The provision does explicitly mention displaying fast-breaking or not fasting, but rather not taking into account public morals in Ramadan. This article is essentially defunct now, and no ruling has been issued in accordance with it over the last eight years.
In the absence of any explicit legal items punishing the act of breaking the fast or displaying it, the real social provisions in circulation are more influential.
The change also appears in a new terrifying image that has entered the lives of Syrians. On a women’s group on WhatsApp—the most common form of communication in Syria—Roweida offers her blessings when Ramadan arrives, but her stereotypical blessing, which does not exceed basic social protocol, is met with violent reactions from some members of the group. One of them says: “Ramadan and fasting and hunger are devouring the bodies of Syrians!” Another connects the fasting blessing with celebrating the values of the Islamic State.
In light of the major deterioration in Syrians’ economic situations, a number of new initiatives have been launched in Ramadan, put forward on walls of the streets and on public centers, such as a call to forgive renters their rent during Ramadan, and insistence and repetition on Syrians abroad to send money to families in need during this month to fill the major gap between Syrians’ weak purchasing power and the volume of basic living need—especially medicine, housing and food.
Older phenomenon that are no longer acceptable include some women only wearing jalabiyehs and hijab during Ramadan, as this behavior has become seen as social hypocrisy, even if temporary. It reflects the deep fragility reflecting on a greater mercy inside, and giving more balanced deeds that allow refugees the internal satisfaction and peace they need.
If Ramadan has a special and popular definition, it comes from the rich and varied meals, which were promoted in the media for direct economic gains. However this has changed completely. The negative economic situation that Syrians are enduring and the decline of purchasing power is just one of the reasons. In addition to that is the changing view of basic priorities and the usefulness of drowning in life’s material, physical and morally exhausting details.
Now Ramadan tables have become limited to just one type of food, in addition to plates of salad or soup or another of foul or fatteh, with excessive diversity becoming undesirable.
Even the many invitations for collective iftar meals, which family members had been used to exchanging, have become hated, and are often limited to just one invitation to meet family obligations and confirming a state of disintegration of family traditions that has become acceptable.
While every month includes deepening changes in the lives of Syrians because of the war and its consequences and costs, Ramadan firmly establishes that in terms of the changes in community functions and in the functions of individuals. It seems that they are now defined by less narrow identities, and have become less compulsory, lowering the restriction on individuals in an expanding, albeit still narrow, way.
*This article was translated, edited, and posted by The Syrian Observer. The original version was published in Arabic at Salon Syria here.
by Syria in a Week Editors | May 8, 2019 | Syria in a Week - EN, Uncategorized
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Destroying our Hospitals
6 May 2019
Three hospitals in north-west Syria were bombed by Russian forces, rendering two of them non-operational.
Eight civilians were killed by Syrian-Russian bombardment in various areas of this region, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which added that one person was killed as a result of Russian airstrikes on the hospitals.
Fighter jets targeted two hospitals on Sunday, one in Kafrnobble and the other an underground hospital in the village of Has. The SOHR attributed the airstrikes to Russian forces. It identifies the party who carried out the attack according to the model of the plane, the place where the strike took place, the flight path, and ammunition used. A third hospital in Kafrzeita north of Hama was also targeted by Russian strikes.
The United Nations said late April that a medical center and two hospitals were rendered non-operational as a result of aerial and artillery bombardment.
Deployment in Tel Rifaat
5 May 2019
Turkish and Russian officials are reviewing deployment of their forces in the Syrian border region of Tel Rifaat, Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Sunday, a day after cross-border fire from the area killed one Turkish soldier.
Two separate attacks on Saturday by Kurdish militants from Tel Rifaat and northern Iraq killed a total of four Turkish soldiers and wounded two others, Turkey’s defense ministry said. The army retaliated in both cases, killing twenty-eight militants, it said.
In an interview with broadcaster Kanal 7, Oktay said Turkey and Russia were discussing developments in the region and that Turkish military operations along the border would continue until all threats had been eliminated.
Tel Rifaat is controlled by Kurdish-led forces and is located some twenty kilometers east of Afrin, which has been under the control of Turkey and its Free Syrian Army allies since an operation last year to drive out the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Turkey, a major backer of opposition groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has conducted patrols with Russia, one of Assad’s main allies, in northern areas under agreements reached last year.
In March, the defense ministry said Turkish and Russian forces had carried out the first “independent and coordinated” patrols in Tel Rifaat.
Two Turkish Soldiers Wounded
5 May 2019
The Turkish defense ministry said two Turkish soldiers were slightly wounded on Saturday after mortar fire from areas controlled by Syrian authorities targeted an observation post in northwest Syria.
“Two of our comrades were slightly wounded when shells fired, based on our judgement, from areas controlled by the government hit one of our observation posts south of the de-escalation zone in Idlib,” a statement from the ministry said. The two soldiers were evacuated to Turkey for treatment, according to the same statement.
In recent weeks, the governorate of Idlib and surrounding areas have witnessed bloody bombardment by Syrian and Russian forces, according to the SOHR.
Russia and Turkey signed an agreement to establish a de-escalation zone in Idlib in September 2018. The agreement provided for a “de-militarized zone” that separates areas occupied by jihadist militants from areas controlled by Syrian authorities.
Attack on Kurds
4 May 2019
The ‘National Army,’ which is affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, took control of the town of al-Malkieh and the village of Shwargah in the northern countryside of Aleppo after battles with the Kurdish YPG, amidst artillery bombardment by opposition factions and the Turkish army against areas controlled by the YPG.
The ‘National Army’ took control of the town of al-Malkieh and the villages of Shwargagh and al-Araz, and ousted YPG militias and elements from the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK),” A military commander told a German news agency.
The source added that artillery regiments of the ‘National Army’ and Turkish army continued bombing Kurdish units in Tel Rifaat, Minnegh, Harbel, and Ain Diqneh, after the town of Mraimin, which is controlled by the ‘National Army,’ was targeted.
“The military operation is ongoing to oust YPG militants from villages surrounding the Izzaz-Afrin highway in the northern countryside of Aleppo all the way to Tel Rifaat and areas controlled by the YPG,” the military commander added.
Qatari Aerial Return
4 May 2019
Qatar Airways’ return to flying over Syria is part of its efforts to grapple with a nearly two-year Gulf dispute that has blocked it from using the airspace of many of its neighbors, CEO Akbar al-Baker said on Saturday.
Syrian transport minister Ali Hammoud said last month that his country had approved a request by Qatar Airways to begin using the country’s airspace for routes, one of the first airlines to do so. Qatar did not comment at the time.
Qatar’s state-owned carrier has had to re-route many of its flights since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt cut diplomatic, transport, and trade ties with the Gulf state in 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism, which Doha denies.
Damascus Denounces Tribal Summit
4 May 2019
An official Syrian source denounced a tribal summit organized by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Ain Issa, north of Syria, calling it a meeting of treason, according to the Syrian news agency SANA.
Mazloum Abdi, leader of the SDF which is comprised of Kurdish and Arab factions, said during the conference that he refuses the approach of “reconciliation” proposed by Damascus to decide the fate of areas under Kurdish control in north-eastern Syria, and expressed his will to open a dialogue with the Syrian government.
The official source in the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement to SANA that the conference, which was held in an area “controlled by armed militias affiliated to the United States and other Western states, …was a failure after most original Arab tribes boycotted it.” The sources described the summit as a “meeting of infiltration, treachery, and subordination.”
“Such meetings undoubtedly represent the betrayal of their organizers, regardless of their political, ethnic, or racial affiliation,” the source added.
Abdi affirmed on Friday willingness “to talk with the Syrian government” in order to reach “a comprehensive solution.” He stressed that no “real solution” can be reached without acknowledging the full constitutional rights of the Kurds … and without recognizing the self-administration,” in addition to accepting the role of the SDF in protecting the area under its control in the future.
Bombardment of Hmeimim
2 May 2019
The Russian military base in Hmeimim was targeted with rocket missiles launched by Syrian opposition factions, amidst aerial and artillery bombardment on opposition-held areas.
“Opposition factions bombarded the Russian military base in Hmeimin in response to Russian air jets targeting areas under the control of Syrian opposition in Idlib and Hama countryside, which left dozens of killed and injured and caused vast destruction,” a source in the National Front for Liberation told a German news agency.
A field commander fighting along with government forces said: “The military base in Hmeimin observed rocket missiles launched by opposition factions from al-Madhiq citadel area in the western countryside of Hama.”
Opposition factions previously declared that a number of Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in the bombing of Hmeimim base with Grad missiles.
140 Thousand Displaced
1 May 2019
Around one hundred and forty thousand people in Idlib governorate and surrounding areas have been displaced since February, as Syrian government forces and their Russian ally stepped up their bombardment in the area, which is mostly controlled by jihadist factions, according to the spokesman of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“Since February, over 138,500 women, children and men have been displaced from northern Hama and southern Idlib,” said David Swanson, adding that between 1 and 28 April, it’s estimated that more than 32,500 individuals have moved to different communities in Aleppo, Idlib, and Hama governorates.
The majority of the al-Qassabiyah village residents displaced to safer areas in southern Idlib after shelling targeted on of its schools.
Damascus is with Maduro
1 May 2019
The Syrian foreign ministry condemned the “failed coup attempt” in Venezuela and accused the United States of undermining stability in the country, according to the state news agency SANA.
“The Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns the failed coup attempt against the constitutional legitimacy in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” state news agency SANA said, quoting a foreign ministry source.
Venezuela was plunged into chaos after the head of the parliament and self-proclaimed leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognized by fifty countries including the United States, said he had the support of troops to oust President Nicolas Maduro.
Constitutional Committee
30 April 2019
UN Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen told the UN Security Council that an agreement could be soon reached to form a committee tasked with drafting a new constitution for Syria, paving the way for a political solution in a county suffering from civil war since 2011.
“We’re getting close to (reaching) an agreement on the constitutional committee,” Pedersen said.
According to the United Nations, the constitutional committee, which is supposed to lead the process for revising the constitution and elections, should include one hundred and fifty members, fifty of whom would be chosen by the government, fifty chosen by the opposition, and fifty chosen by the UN special envoy, taking into consideration the views of experts and representatives of the civil society.
No agreement has been reached on the third list, which provoked a dispute between Damascus and the United Nations. However, the latter says only six names on this list need to be changed.
The acting US Ambassador in the UN Jonathan Cohen accused Moscow of obstructing efforts to reach an agreement. “Russia, and those who it supports, are obstructing the political process,” he said.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that he is “optimistic a solution can be quickly reached” regarding the constitutional committee.
Ending the Escalation
30 April 2019
The United States on Tuesday called on Russia to abide by its commitments and end the “escalation” in the Idlib region northwest of Syria after airstrikes that killed ten people.
“We call on all parties, including Russia and the Syrian regime, to abide by their commitments to avoid large-scale military offensives, return to a de-escalation of violence in the area,” State Department Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.
Baghdadi Appearance
29 April 2019
Al Furqan Network, ISIS’s media network, published a video message purporting to come from its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in which he said that the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka were ISIS’s response to losses in its last stronghold in Baghouz in Syria.
The group will seek revenge for jailed and killed members, he said. The man sat of the floor giving an address to members in the group that lasted eighteen minutes. Some aides appeared listening to him but had their faces blurred.
The video would be the first from Baghdadi since he was filmed in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014. More recent speeches have been released as audio recordings.
by Syria in a Week Editors | May 1, 2019 | Syria in a Week - EN, Uncategorized
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Release of Syrian Detainees
Reuters
28 April 2019
Israel released two prisoners on Sunday, sending them back to Syria in what Damascus described as Russian-mediated reciprocation for the repatriation of the body of a long-missing Israeli soldier.
Russia, a key ally to Damascus, handed this month Israel the remains and personal effects of Zachary Baumel, who was declared missing in action along with two other Israeli soldiers following a 1982 tank battle with Syrian forces in Lebanon.
A Syrian government source said Damascus then pressured Moscow to secure a prisoner release by Israel. There was no immediate comment on Sunday from Russia.
The Israeli military said in a statement that two prisoners were transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Quneitra crossing on the armistice line with the Syrian Golan Heights.
The Israeli military statement described the two men as Syrians. Israel’s Prisons Service identified them as Ahmed Khamis, from a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, and Zidan Taweel, from the Syrian Druze village of Hader.
Khamis was a member of the Fatah faction who was jailed in 2005 after trying to attack an Israeli army base, and Taweel was jailed in 2008 for drug smuggling, the Prisons Service said.
The official Syrian news agency SANA said on the 4th of April that the Syrian government had no knowledge of handing the remains of the Israeli soldier Zachary Baumel over to Israeil. “Syria has no knowledge of the remains of the Israeli soldier. What happened is yet another example of cooperation between terrorist groups and the Mossad,” SANA cited a media source as saying.
The Occupier Honors Trump
Reuters
23 April 2019
Israel said on Tuesday it would name a new community on the Golan Heights after US President Donald Trump as an expression of gratitude for his recognition of its claim of sovereignty over the strategic plateau.
Israel captured the Golan from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed it, in a move not recognized internationally. The United States broke with other world powers last month when Trump signed a decree recognizing Israeli sovereignty there.
Israel has said separately that, in appreciation of the US president, it intends to name a proposed train station near Jerusalem’s Western Wall after him.
Deal of the Century to Be Made Public Soon
Reuters
23 April 2019
President Donald Trump’s long-delayed proposal to break a deadlock in finding a resolution to the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is to be unveiled after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan ends in June, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said on Tuesday.
The proposal, which has been delayed for a variety of reasons over the last eighteen months, has two major components. It has a political piece that addresses core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, and an economic part that aims to help the Palestinians strengthen their economy.
“We are going to wait until after Ramadan now,” Kushner said. He also cited the need to wait until Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formed a governing coalition following his April reelection victory.
Kushner, who has been developing the plan with Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, said it was not an effort to impose US will on the region. He would not say whether it called for a two-state solution, a goal of past peace efforts.
“Our focus is really on the bottom up which is how do you make the lives of the Palestinian people better, what can you resolve to allow these areas to become more investable,” he said. “There’ll be tough compromises for both sides,” he added.
Constitution Drafting Committee … Possible!
Reuters
26 April 2019
Russian Special Envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said on Friday that the Syrian government and armed opposition groups, together with both sides’ backers, could agree on the makeup of a constitutional committee in the coming months.
The sides have so far failed to agree on the constitutional committee’s makeup, and a fresh round of talks in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, produced no apparent breakthrough on Friday. But Lavrentyev said it was close.
Diplomats from Russia, Iran, and Turkey will meet with United Nations negotiators in Geneva to discuss the issue again, he said, adding that the issue was “at the finish line”.
“The timing has not been agreed yet, taking into account the upcoming month of Ramadan, it is most likely to happen after that,” Lavrentyev told reporters. “But I think by that time (UN mediator) Mr. Pedersen will be able to announce” the establishment of the committee.
Russia Decides Idlib’s Fate
Reuters
27 April 2019
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he did not rule out Syrian forces, backed by Russian air power, launching a full-scale assault on militants in Syria’s Idlib province, but that such an operation was unpractical for now.
Russia brokered a deal in September to create a demilitarized zone in the northwest Idlib region that would be free of all heavy weapons and jihadist fighters. But Moscow has since complained about escalating violence in the area and said that militants who used to belong to the Nusra Front group are in control of large swaths of territory.
Speaking in Beijing, Putin said that Moscow and Damascus would continue what he called the fight against terrorism and that any militants who tried to break out of Idlib, something he said happened from time to time, were bombed.
But he said that the presence of civilians in parts of Idlib meant the time was not yet ripe for full-scale military operations.
“I don’t rule it (a full-scale assault) out, but right now we and our Syrian friends consider that to be inadvisable given this humanitarian element,” Putin added.
Seventeen Killed in Jisr al-Shughour
Reuters
24 April 2019
Rescue workers said that at least seventeen people were killed on Wednesday in an explosion in the center of Jisr al Shughour, an opposition-held city in northwestern Syria, a day after heavy Russian air strikes in the vicinity. Several residential buildings collapsed as a result of the blast in Idlib province, near a road between the coastal city of Lattakia and city of Aleppo.
The governorate and areas around it in northern Syria, the last remaining opposition bastion, have seen an escalation in attacks by Russian warplanes and the Syrian army even though they are protected by a “de-escalation zone” agreement brokered last year between Russia, Iran, and Turkey. The bombardment has sent people fleeing from opposition-held towns in the buffer zone that straddles parts of Idlib to northern Hama and parts of Lattakia governorate.
Turkey, which has supported the opposition fighters and has troops to monitor the truce, has been negotiating with Moscow to halt the Russian strikes with little success. Jisr al Shughour has been a target of heavy bombardment by the Russian air force and the Syrian army in recent weeks. Most of its inhabitants have fled to the safety of areas close to the Turkish border, residents and local officials say.
1,600 Civilian Casualties of the Coalition in Raqqa
Reuters
25 April 2019
Amnesty International and the monitoring group Airwars said on Thursday that the US-backed assault to drive ISIS from its Syrian capital Raqqa in 2017 killed more than one thousand six hundred civilians, ten times the toll the coalition itself has acknowledged.
Amnesty and Airwars, a London-based group set up in 2014 to monitor the impact of the US-led campaign against ISIS, spent eighteen months researching civilian deaths including two months on the ground in Raqqa, they said.
“Our conclusive finding after all this is that the US-led coalition’s military offensive directly caused more than one thousand six hundred civilian deaths in Raqqa,” they said.
They said the cases they had documented probably amounted to violations of international humanitarian law and called for coalition members to create a fund to compensate victims and their families.
The coalition said in response to the report that it takes “all reasonable measures to minimize civilian casualties” and that there are still open allegations it is investigating.
“Any unintentional loss of life during the defeat of ISIS is tragic,” said Scott Rawlinson, a coalition spokesman in an emailed statement later on Thursday.
“However it must be balanced against the risk of enabling ISIS to continue terrorist activities, causing pain and suffering to anyone they choose,” he added.
Amnesty said last year that there was evidence coalition air and artillery strikes in Raqqa had broken international law by endangering the lives of civilians, but until now had not given an estimate of the death toll during the battle.
Tensions in Deir al-Zor
Reuters
29 April 2019
Residents, protesters, and tribal chiefs said on Sunday that Arabs in Syria’s Deir al-Zor have stepped up protests against the US-allied Kurdish militia that controls the oil-rich governorate after seizing it from ISIS.
Starting five days ago, they said demonstrations against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had taken place in a string of towns, from Busayrah to Shuhail, in a strategic oil belt in the heart of Arab tribal territory, east of the Euphrates River.
Protesters burned tires along a major highway from Deir al-Zor to Hasaka that is used by tankers carrying oil, a lucrative trade the SDF took over from ISIS after defeating the militant group there from late 2017. Residents, protesters, and tribal chiefs said convoys of tankers from the nearby oil field of al Omar, the largest under the Kurdish People’s Protection Units’ control in Syria, had been turned back by local mobs angered by what they see as theft of oil from their region.
The SDF has continued to sell oil to the Syrian government in Damascus despite US misgivings. It has increased shipments in recent weeks to ease acute fuel shortages caused partly by US sanctions on Iran, a main financial supporter of the Syrian government, which are hurting the Syrian economy.
By ousting ISIS from Deir al-Zor, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) laid its hands on some of Syria’s biggest oil fields, beating the Syrian army and its Russian backers to the prize.
But resentment against SDF rule in eastern Syria has grown among the predominantly Arab population, residents and tribal elders say, with many objecting to compulsory conscription of young men and discrimination in top leadership layers.
With living conditions poor and many towns without electricity, Arab residents complain the YPG-led administration favors majority Kurdish areas in northeast Syria.
Detentions of Arabs have also angered locals but SDF officials have denied any discrimination, saying they themselves had long been victims of Arab nationalist policies that denied them their culture before Syria’s conflict began in 2011.
Eastern Aleppo… Human Rubble
Reuters
25 April 2019
Bodies are still scattered in the rubble in Eastern Aleppo. The opposition has accused the government of withholding services from districts where the rebellion against it flared to punish residents, and in Kalasa there was little evidence of a big government effort to improve conditions.
The government blames the slow recovery, shortages, and hardship on the war and Western sanctions. It has denied treating recaptured areas differently to ones that remained under its control throughout the war and has said it is working to restore normal services to all areas.
Kalasa has no state electricity supply, charities dole out boxes of food aid to crowds waiting behind chains. Some damaged buildings in Kalasa have recently collapsed.
by Syria in a Week Editors | Feb 5, 2019 | Syria in a Week - EN
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Ankara “Communicating” with Damascus
3 February 2019
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that his country has maintained low-level contacts with the Syrian government even though Ankara has supported the armed opposition who fought for years to topple the government. He said that intelligent services operate differently to political leaders. “Leaders may be cut out. But intelligence units can communicate for their interests,” Erdogan said. “Even if you have an enemy, you should not break the ties. You may need that later,” he added.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in December Turkey and other countries would consider working with Assad if he won a democratic election. Last month, Cavusoglu said Ankara was in indirect contact with Damascus via Russia and Iran.
Erdogan is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for talks on Syria in the Russian resort of Sochi on 14 February.
Al-Hol Children Freezing to Death
1 February 2019
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday that it asked the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to designate a site on route to al-Hol camp where civilians fleeing fighting in harsh winter can get aid after twenty-nine children died.
The SDF are fighting ISIS in the Hajin enclave of Deir Azzor governorate in northeast Syria. They are in “de facto” control of the zone, but have not replied to the request made two weeks ago, the UNHCR said.
Civilians, mainly women and children, are fleeing towards al-Hol camp, whose population has tripled in two months to thirty-three thousand.
At least twenty-nine children and babies are reported to have died in the camp in northeastern Syria over the past eight weeks, mainly due to hypothermia and malnourishment, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
Near End of ISIS Pocket
29 January 2019
The acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Tuesday that ISIS is expected to lose its final bits of territory in Syria to US-backed forces within a couple of weeks.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which have been backed by two thousand US troops and air support, are preparing for a final showdown with Islamic State in eastern Syria after helping drive the fighters from the towns and cities that once formed the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate.
The SDF said on Tuesday that Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria are pinned down in a tiny pocket with their wives and children, forcing the SDF to slow its advance to protect civilians.
“I’d say 99.5 percent plus of the ISIS-controlled territory has been returned to the Syrians. Within a couple of weeks, it will be 100 percent,” Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon.
Senate Rebukes “Symbolic Withdrawal”
1 February 2019
The Republican-led US Senate advanced largely symbolic legislation on Thursday opposing President Trump’s plans for any abrupt withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan. The Senate voted sixty-eight to twenty-three in favor of a non-binding amendment, drafted by Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying it was the sense of the Senate that ISIS groups in both countries continue to pose a “serious threat” to the United States.
The amendment acknowledges progress against ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria and Afghanistan but warns that “a precipitous withdrawal” without effective efforts to secure gains could destabilize the region and create a vacuum that could be filled by Iran or Russia. It calls upon the Trump administration to certify conditions have been met for the groups’ “enduring defeat” before any significant withdrawal from Syria or Afghanistan.
Coalition Planes Target Syrian Army
3 February 2019
US-led coalition jets attacked a Syrian army position near the battle front against the ISIS pocket late on Saturday, causing damages and injures.
“U.S. coalition aircraft launched an aggression this evening against one of the Syrian Arab army formations operating in the Albukamal area in the southeastern countryside of Deir Azzor,” Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) cited a military source early Sunday. The attack injured two soldiers and destroyed an artillery piece, SANA added.
Our partner forces were fired upon and “exercised their inherent right to self-defense,” the coalition spokesman said, adding that the incident is under investigation.
Army Bombardment of Idlib
29 January 2019
Rescue workers and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that Syrian army shells killed more than ten people on Tuesday in the opposition pocket in northwest Syria, where Russia and Turkey agreed on a truce in September.
The civil defense said Tuesday’s shelling hit the town of Maarat al-Numan, killing twelve civilians and injuring twenty-five, as well as other towns and villages in the southern part of the enclave. The SOHR said two children were among eleven people killed on Tuesday.
Syrian state news agency SANA said: “The army carried out precise operations against the positions of terrorist groups in the southern countryside of Idlib… Syrian Arab Army units in the northern countryside of Hama responded to terrorist violations of the truce in the de-escalation zone with concentrated attacks on their movement and infiltration towards military posts and villages.”
Targeting of the Salvation Government
29 January 2019
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that a female suicide bomber targeted the headquarter of the National Salvation Government in Idlib, which is a governing council linked to Nusra, on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring three others.
The attack follows a series of attacks in the opposition-held northwest in recent months, where rival factions have fought for control.
US Ruling in Colvin’s Killing
31 January 2019
A US judge has ruled that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government is liable for at least $302.5 million in damages for its role in the 2012 death of renowned American journalist Marie Colvin while covering the Syrian civil war for Britain’s Sunday Times.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in a ruling made public on Wednesday that the Syrian government was “engaged in an act of extrajudicial killing of a United States national.” Colvin (56 years) and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs in 2012 while reporting on the Syrian conflict.
Iranian-Syrian “Eternal” Deals
28 January 2019
Iran struck economic and trade deals with Syria on Monday. The Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said that Tehran reached “very important agreements on banking cooperation” with Syria. Iran will also help repair power stations across Syria and set up a new plant in the coastal governorate of Lattakia, he added.
Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis said Syria and Iran signed an agreement on Monday for long-term economic cooperation which includes industry, trade, and agriculture.
The two countries signed several memorandums of understanding during Jahangiri’s visit to Damascus which Khamis described as historic. Officials said they covered education, housing, public works, railways, investment, and other fields.
Safe Zone for Return of Refugees
28 January 2019
Turkey is aiming to form safe zones in northern Syria so that around four million Syrian refugees hosted by Turkey could return, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Speaking in Istanbul, Erdogan also said nearly three hundred thousand Syrians had already returned and that he expected millions of Syrian nationals would return to the safe areas.
US President Donald Trump announced in December the withdrawal of all US troops from Syria and Erdogan subsequently said they had discussed setting up a twenty-mile-deep safe zone in Syria along the border.
France Preparing for the Return of Jihadists
29 January 2019
The French Interior Minister said on Tuesday that his country is preparing for the return of dozens of French jihadists held by Kurdish authorities in Syria after the United States announced the withdrawal of its forces, marking a shift in Paris’ policy on the issue.
Government policy until now has been to categorically refuse to take back fighters and their wives. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has categorized them as “enemies” of the nation who should face justice either in Syria or Iraq.
“The Americans are disengaging from Syria and there are people who are in prison and held because the Americans are there and they will be released. They will want to come back to France,” Castaner said. “I want all those who return to France to be put immediately into the hands of justice,” he added.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which have been backed by two thousand US troops and air support from nations including France, are holding about one hundred and fifty French citizens in north-eastern Syria, according to military and diplomatic sources.
Excluding families, officials estimate two hundred and fifty French jihadists are still fighting in Syria, including one hundred and fifty in the Hajin area, one of the final bits of territory held by Islamic State in eastern Syria, and one hundred others in Idlib governorate.
